Honestly, it's so hot in my apartment that, had I just left it on the counter, the butter would have browned itself. I was really more of a witness to the whole thing.

These bars are my fail-safe, go-to treat. The Help has declared them his Very Favorite Dessert Ever, and who could blame him? Browned butter, Nutella, sea salt and chocolate chip cookie dough. Even if it were no more than the sum of its parts, this dessert would win every time.

Basically, you make regular chocolate chip cookie dough, but you brown up the butter to a divine state of nutty goodness before throwing it in the mix. Then you take half of the dough, and spread it on the bottom of a greased baking dish. Then you spread a thin layer of Nutella over that. Then comes the remaining cookie dough. Then, to top it all off, a generous sprinkling of sea salt. 15-20 minutes in the oven, and what comes out is a cookie that all cookies aspire to be. Crunchy, gooey, salty, sweet, quick and easy.

If I were this cookie, that is what my online dating profile would say.

During the dog days of summer, turning on the oven is so unappealing that the recipe in question needs to be REALLY promising in order for me to do it. So, I've been eating a lot of hummus. And sushi. And obviously continuing to self-medicate with copious amounts of Diet Coke. But these cookie bars were worth the spike in the ambient temperature of my kitchen.

And if you eat them with ice cream, then it really all cancels out. #math

I sent these cookie bars to Bea over at Secrets From My Apron for this month's Leftovers Club. If you want to join our fun monthly exchange of treats and recipes, head over to theleftoversclub.com and sign up!

Salted Brown Butter Nutella Cookie Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white (granulated) sugar

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Nutella

Sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 325°, and grease an 8″x 8″ or 9″x 9″ baking pan.In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and continue cooking until amber flecks begin to appear, and butter takes on a rich, brown color. Remove from heat and transfer browned butter to a large mixing bowl.Combine the browned butter with the brown sugar and white sugar. Cream the mixture using an electric hand (or stand) mixer until pale and smooth.Add eggs and vanilla, and combine thoroughly.In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and combine thoroughly (either using the mixer or by hand).Allow the mixture to cool completely, then add the chocolate chips.Press half of the cookie dough into the greased pan. Spread a layer of Nutella (the amount is up to you!) evenly over the cookie dough.Press the remaining cookie dough on top of the Nutella layer, then sprinkle with sea salt. (Again, the amount here is up to you, but I recommend not being too shy about it!)Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (except for a possible Nutella smear!). Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!